Understanding first year university students: personal epistemology and learning

Abstract

Whilst participation in higher education has increased dramatically over the last two decades, many universities are only now beginning to pay more attention to the learning experiences of first year students. It is important for universities to understand how first year students conceive of learning and knowing in order to promote effective approaches to learning. Even though an extensive body of research demonstrates that beliefs about learning and knowing influence student approaches to learning and learning outcomes, there has been no Australian research that has investigated this critical learner characteristic across first year university students. This paper reports on preliminary data from an ongoing longitudinal study designed to investigate first year students' beliefs about knowing and learning (epistemological beliefs). Students from teacher education and creative industry faculties in two Australian universities completed the Epistemological Beliefs Survey (EBS) in the first week of their first semester of study. A series of one-way ANOVA using key demographics as independent variables and the EBS factor scores as dependent variables showed that epistemological beliefs were related to the course of study, previous post-school education experience, family experience at University, gender and age. These data help us to understand students' beliefs about learning and knowing with a view to informing effective learning in higher education.

Student teacher assessment feedback preferences: The influence of cognitive styles and gender

“…However, a number of studies have demonstrated that certain cognitive styles in interaction with gender may be more preferential for certain tasks (Anderson et al, 2008;Hlawaty, 2009;Lau & Yuen, 2010). In addition, gender interacting with other variables, such as age, can influence beliefs about learning (Edmunds & Richardson, 2009;Walker et al, 2009), including one's ability to self-regulate learning (Bembenutty, 2007).…”

University Applicants’ Critical Thinking Skills: The Case of the Finnish Educational Sciences

“…Besides education, also students' age have been found to be associated with their epistemic beliefs, so that older students tend to believe less on authoritative sources of knowledge and perceive knowledge more complex (Bendixen, Schraw & Dunkle, 1998;Chan, 2003;Walker et al, 2009), which may also reflect better performance in critical thinking. Interestingly, in this study, age was not associated with the quality of the participants' critical thinking skills.…”

“…Older students rely less on experts or authorities as sources of knowledge than younger students, and believe less in simple knowledge, and are more likely to believe that knowledge is uncertain (Bendixen, Schraw & Dunkle, 1998;Chan, 2003;Walker et al, 2009). …”

“…In contrast, in another Finnish study, third year bio-science students held neither an absolutistic nor a relativistic epistemic viewpoint, but a fallibilist view of knowledge, in which they believed that it is possible to find measures for assessing and comparing conceptions, theories and beliefs (Hyytinen et al, 2014). In addition to education, also age and epistemic beliefs are linked together.Older students rely less on experts or authorities as sources of knowledge than younger students, and believe less in simple knowledge, and are more likely to believe that knowledge is uncertain (Bendixen, Schraw & Dunkle, 1998;Chan, 2003;Walker et al, 2009). …”

Building Connections in the First-year Undergraduate Experience

“…We use his three subsets of this facet-learning to be a better student, learning how to acquire and construct knowledge and learning how to be a self-directing learner (p. 50)-to guide our work. Research directed at examining first-year students' epistemological beliefs (Anderson & Hounsell, 2007;Walker et al, 2009) reminds us of the importance of ascertaining students' beliefs about knowing and learning early in the first year of university studies, of recognizing the idiosyncratic, tenacious and often tacit nature of these beliefs, and of making students aware of their own learning beliefs. Unmasking students' beliefs about knowing is the important first step in developing metacognitive skills.…”